Gypsy Curse

Let Kyn have gypsy curse.
I'm sure the gypsies will handle it.
And the Kyn will probably learn something.
 
In my chapter, that lesson would be, "If people mess with a kyn, that person takes a trip to the circle."

But your chapter may vary.
 
Hiding in the tavern, bored on a cold wet night? GC / LFC colourblind Sarrs to see colours for the first time. :p
Use it in lulls to brighten up your days.
 
Nice to see that the removal of the rules debate sections haven't stopped the rules debates.

Gypsy curse can be used to create some pretty powerful effects, from a creative player. The best/worst use I have seen was someone cursing a big bad who used a lot of mind control effects to say "kill me" with everything he said and did. This had great effects when he was commanding PCs.
 
Also not a valid effect of Gypsy Curse.

It may not 'hinder or prevent the use of any Game Ability in any way'.

This is why a 2bp ability that cannot be blocked by any in-game defense is not the most wickedly overpowered skill in the game. :)
 
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Muir said:
Also not a valid effect of Gypsy Curse.

It may not 'hinder or prevent the use of any Game Ability in any way'.

This is why a 2bp ability that cannot be blocked by any in-game defense is not the most wickedly overpowered skill in the game. :)
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Issuing commands is not a Game Ability. It's -literally- just speaking.
 
I think it is hindering if used to slow down the incants of a chain caster. That is interferring with a Game Ability. That's why you have to judge this on a case by case basis.
 
A Gypsy Curse enforced verbal tic should no more interfere with making use of a command effect than it should interfere with spell incants or cause ritual casting to fail.
 
Muir said:
A Gypsy Curse enforced verbal tic should no more interfere with making use of a command effect than it should interfere with spell incants or cause ritual casting to fail.
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I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. At the end of the day, the local occurrence resulted in drama and fun, without clearly acting against the rules (or even the spirit of the rules, IMO). So, I call that a win.
 
Muir said:
Also not a valid effect of Gypsy Curse.

It may not 'hinder or prevent the use of any Game Ability in any way'.

This is why a 2bp ability that cannot be blocked by any in-game defense is not the most wickedly overpowered skill in the game. :)
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The curse didn't interfere with any OOG call (damage swings, etc), the curse didn't cause a flub on the verbal, it simply added a complication to the spoken command, which isn't a defined OOG verbal for the enslavement effect he was using. My understanding of how Alliance works is that grey areas like this are up to the local chapter to handle, so I don't think you can blanket say, "this is not a valid effect of Gypsy Curse", unless ARC has ruled otherwise. The local chapter chose how they would handle it and fun was had by all the players the NPC was entertaining and isn't that the point? To have fun? =)
 
There's having fun, and there's letting an ability that is explicitly not supposed to have any game effect beyond being embarrassing for the target give a game advantage. I personally come down against allowing gypsy curse to give a game advantage both because the text of the ability is very clear that it should not, and because doing so makes it a very powerful ability given that no in-game defense can stop it, and nothing short of resurrection or another use of the same ability can remove it.

To quote the ARB :

The most difficult aspect of the gypsy to role-play is the Gypsy Curse. On the one hand, the Gypsy Curse is unique in that it cannot be dispelled, resisted or even dodged. On the other hand, the Gypsy Curse cannot be used to affect combat or other in-game skills.
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Gypsy Curses are all role-playing Curses only. The Cursed player should not allow the Curse to hinder or prevent the use of any Game Ability in any way. You can still fight, cast, use alchemy, perform ritual magics, and use any skill while Cursed. The Curse is not intended as a combat effect and should never affect safety in combat. The Cursed player should try to act out the effects of the Curse as often and completely as possible. The Curse is intended as an in-game nuisance, embarrassment, and hindrance
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There is the potential for argument given that a player is allowed to refuse a specific gypsy curse if they are uncomfortable with it, which is not a discussion I would like to see having any aspect of 'gaming' applied to in order to avoid a Gypsy Curse affecting game skills.

This curse is intended to entertain through humor or drama. If it becomes overly burdensome or embarrassing out-of-game, it is not entertaining. At the time the Curse is cast, a player who would suffer out-of-game embarrassment or difficulty with role-playing the Curse may negotiate out-of-game for a different Curse. However, he or she must eventually accept one of the listed Curses.
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This is one of the rare parts of the Alliance system where the writers were actually quite explicit with what they consider to be the letter and spirit of the rule.
 
I feel compelled to point out this "Kill me" curse is easily made null by just ending every statement with "Don't".

As to this specific case, it was a cute and maybe quasi-legal use of gypsy curse, but the person playing the NPC could have simple declined the curse and picked another effect if he had so wanted too. Instead he rolled with it. And permed the gypsy that did it. Made me think of the good old days where Gypsy curse = gypsy death. Those were the days.
 
I also feel compelled to point out that every Alliance game I am aware of has in-game laws against assault, harassment, etc. Whether or not the racial culture polices gypsy curse, the in-game laws often do, which limits most of the problems that have been raised here.

-MS
 
Even though my main character is a Gypsy, I personally don't like the Gypsy Curse situation as it is. Although it is for "RP purposes only" it forces an RP upon people - even with the caveat that you can work with people to get a curse the subject would be OK with. That, in itself, can be an involved process. With the one curse another character of mine received, after a few negotiations, it was finally agreed upon that it would be a simple, soft cough. Not a huge curse in and of itself but it was what I was comfortable as a player doing.

My personal taste would be (if such a skill continued to exist) would be a Wanderer's Mark. A very simple design drawn upon the back of the hand or on the cheek or someplace that warns other Gypsies that the person they're dealing with has been offensive towards their kind. If you don't want to wear the makeup, turn it into a belt favor/flag to always wear instead. Granted, it's my personal taste but I find it a lot less intrusive than hopping, hiccupping, wearing donkey ears, etc. and it gives a social IG stigma only towards the person who insulted the Gypsy and the Gypsy's themselves.
 
Personally I always thought gypsy should just be humans with an RP packet. Let the curse be a total RP in game thing. Like group shunning where they all pretend someone can't be seen or has a disfigurement. Or the tribe of gypsy work IG to make life hard for the cursed character creating bad "luck" for the cursed person.
 
jpariury said:
I find it weird that "it's only a roleplay effect" is meant as a sign of its weakness in a roleplaying game.
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To be honest, I feel our combative system is extremely weak in terms of roleplay immersion, so I attribute "roleplay effects" to -generally- exist outside of combative situations, where they can be better employed for more enjoyable experiences. Usually, anyways....I've seen some pretty funny stuff with mid-combat Paranoia/Hallucinate.
 
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